Less than two weeks into his presidency, Trump revealed there is nothing genuine about his economic populism by siding with pharmaceutical companies over struggling Americans – bigly.

We always knew Trump was a fake populist who only cared about enriching his friends and glorifying himself. But throughout his campaign, he took the overwhelmingly popular side and insisted that it should be legal for Medicare to negotiate discounts on drug prices with Big Pharma. Now that he has seized power, though, Trump is parroting his right-wing puppet masters' lines about cutting regulations instead of confronting Big Pharma head-on.1

We need to drive home Trump’s hypocrisy with the American public by showing what true leadership looks like: Sen. Bernie Sanders’ bills to crack down on Big Pharma price gouging.

Stand with Sen. Sanders: Import safe, affordable prescription drugs.

After a long campaign promising to take on Big Pharma, it took Trump less than two weeks to echo the Republican party line. At a recent White House event, immediately after talking to pharmaceutical representatives, Trump said nothing about price negotiations or importation. Instead, he promised tax cuts and fewer safety rules on companies that already rake in record billions in profits.2

Big Pharma is profitable and still produces new drugs. The problem is that these monopolies have zero incentive to lower profits. New treatments debut at sky-high prices, while even old generic drugs have seen price increases. In recent years, prices have gone up 12 percent on average – at times over 1,000 percent – even though Americans already pay the highest prices for prescription drugs of anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry is spending millions on marketing and lobbyists to protect its unfair monopolies.3 Sen. Sanders’ Affordable and Drug Importation Act would allow the importation of tested, approved, certifiably safe and far cheaper drugs from our northern neighbor.4

When it comes to attacking minorities and seizing power for himself, Trump is deadly serious. But on so many other issues, Trump is an empty suit who dances to whatever tune powerful people are humming in his ear. Sen. Sanders, on the other hand, is showing what taking the fight to Big Pharma really looks like.

Stand with Sen. Sanders: Import safe, affordable prescription drugs.

Trump thinks Big Pharma price-gouging is well and good as long as he keeps his grip on power. Sen. Sanders is showing how you really stand with struggling Americans, and we need to stand with him.